Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that striker Darwin Nunez may not be available for Sunday's Premier League showdown with Arsenal due to a foot injury.
The Uruguay international completed the full 90 minutes of Wednesday's 4-1 crushing of Chelsea at Anfield, in which he became the first player to hit the woodwork four times in one Premier League match.
Before the half-time whistle blew, Nunez saw two strikes tipped onto the frame of the goal by Dorde Petrovic before crashing the post with a penalty, and his penchant for woodwork striking continued in the second period as he headed against the bar.
Nevertheless, Nunez still ended the evening with an assist for Luis Diaz, and Klopp labelled his first-half display "unbelievable" in his post-game press conference ahead of a potential redemption tale in front of goal at the Emirates.
However, addressing the media on Friday morning, Klopp revealed that Nunez had his foot stamped on in the first half of Wednesday's game, and he is unsure if the South American will be able to take on the Gunners, as his swelling is yet to settle down.
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When asked if Nunez's glut of misses affected his confidence, Klopp responded: "It affects him of course, he's a human being, if it did not affect him that would be strange. But he knows he will have another chance. The penalty miss hit him, definitely.
"But a little side story you should probably know, I don't know if Darwin is available or not because after 20 minutes somebody stepped on his foot, and it was very painful after the game.
"He only took the boot off after the game because he didn't want to see it before. He knew that there was something, so he left the stadium in a boot, and it was not a football boot.
"Nothing broken, X-ray clear, but we have to see if he can get his foot back into a boot or not, as we all know that takes time. I didn't see him this morning, so we have to wait a little bit."
Having played through the pain for over 70 minutes in midweek, Klopp also waxed lyrical about Nunez's commitment to the Liverpool cause and reaffirmed that his record-breaking quartet of woodwork strikes meant little to him due to his well-worked cross for Diaz's goal.
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"But going through a game with this kind of situation and the pain you have, it shows so much more," Klopp added. "I don't judge Darwin because of the crossbar moments, I judge him for the assist he has for Lucho.
"It was late in the game, super decisive for us, super important. The run he makes, the way he gets in front of the defender, he sees Lucho coming, he puts the ball in and Lucho can finish it off. That's outstanding, footballing wise, not being bothered about your own bad luck.
"I'm more than happy with him. It's an interesting story, I get that 100%, breaking the record for [hitting] the crossbar is not a record you want to have but it just shows you're as close as it gets to score, and that's his situation. He will score."
Liverpool must also conduct a once-over on Alexis Mac Allister's knee injury after the Argentine came off worse in a clash with Cesare Casadei in midweek, but he is not thought to have sustained severe damage and is expected to be passed fit for the weekend.
However, Wataru Endo (international), Mohamed Salah (muscle), Kostas Tsimikas (collarbone), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Ben Doak (knee), Joel Matip (knee) and Thiago Alcantara (hip) will all miss out for Liverpool, who are five points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.
Ben Knapton
